Arthur and the Invisibles (2006)

Ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished, goes looking for some much-fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys, tiny people living in harmony with nature.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writers:

Céline Garcia, Luc Besson

Stars:

Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow, Madonna

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Freddie Highmore	...	Arthur
Mia Farrow	...	Granny
Ron Crawford	...	Archibald (voice)
Penny Balfour	...	Arthur's Mother
Doug Rand	...	Arthur's Father
Adam LeFevre	...	Davido
Jean Bejote Njamba	...	Massai Chief
Saul Jephcott	...	Police Officer #1
Lee Delong	...	Saleslady (as Lee de Long)
Christian Erickson	...	Antique Dealer
Eric Balliet	...	Mover #1
Oxmo Puccino	...	Mover #2
Robert William Bradford	...	Baliff
Jerry Di Giacomo	...	Repairman (voice)
Bienvenue Kindoki	...	Matassalai #1

Storyline

Arthur is a spirited ten-year old whose parents are away looking for work, whose eccentric grandfather has been missing for several years, and who lives with his grandmother in a country house that, in two days, will be repossessed, torn down, and turned into a block of flats unless Arthur's grandfather returns to sign some papers and pay off the family debt. Arthur discovers that the key to success lies in his own descent into the land of the Minimoys, creatures no larger than a tooth, whom his grandfather helped relocate to their garden. Somewhere among them is hidden a pile of rubies, too. Can Arthur be of stout heart and save the day? Romance beckons as well, and a villain lurks.

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Plot Keywords:

treasure | princess | debt | garden | boy | 

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Taglines:

Because Small is the New Big

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for fantasy action and brief suggestive material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

France

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arthur and the Invisibles

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Budget:

$86,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,702,789, 14 January 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,132,763

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,325,743

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, Avalanche Productions, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sacred sword that no one (not even Princess Selenia) can pull out of the stone (she implies that only the chosen one can pull it out) but Arthur is able to pull out easily, is an homage to King Arthur and the legend of the Sword in the Stone. King Arthur (with whom the main character of this movie shares a name) becomes King when he is able to pull a sword from the stone, in which it was stuck, when no one else could.

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Goofs

(at around 7 mins) The story takes place in 1960. Arthur's toy car, a Ferrari 250 GTO, debuted in February 1962.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [a photo album unlatches and opens to a picture of a bearded man] This is Archibald Suchot, a treasure hunter, explorer, and engineer. He spent 10 years in Africa building every type of useful thing. Oh, by the way, it's in the heart of Africa that our story begins.
Narrator: [cut to a country road] Well, this really isn't Africa, it's Connecticut, and this is the house Archibald lived in before he mysteriously disappeared. But that's a story that Archibald's grandson would be more qualified ...

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Crazy Credits

The credits feature the characters walking by the names of their voice actors and sometimes pausing briefly to wave. The human characters (Arthur's grandmother, parents,etc.) are in Minimoy form. Luc Besson is also seen in Minimoy form.

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Connections

References The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday
Written by Patty S. Hill (as Patty Hill) and Mildred J. Hill (as Mildred Hill)
© Summer Birchard Music
Courtesy of Warner Chappell Music France

User Reviews

Imaginative adventure story; fabulous animated voices

Beautiful artwork, wonderful voices for the animated characters by David Bowie, Madonna, Jimmy Fallon, Robert DeNiro, and Ron Crawford. Great to see an imaginative, kind child as hero, and see Mia Farrow act again. Arthur uses his love for his grandparents and his intelligence to persevere and save the day. (A treat for artists in the audience is grandpa's personal journal of watercolors and sketches at the beginning of the movie). The action really takes off once the movie transitions to animation, and perhaps moves too fast, although the children with me were able to follow it. The animated characters are adorable and even though they are very contemporary, and the movie takes place during the depression, kids will be able to relate to the animated fantasy characters - since they are fantasy characters, there is no reason they can't be contemporary. Overall a nice story for kids, with some good lessons for kids re: love, loyalty, perseverance, intelligence.